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Gujarat Titans (GT) secured their first victory of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season with a commanding 36-run win over Mumbai Indians (MI) thanks to an impressive bowling performance from Prasidh Krishna. The seamer played a crucial role in restricting Mumbai's batting lineup, finishing with figures of 2/18 in his four overs. His spell included the key wickets of Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav, which tilted the game in Gujarat's favour.
Krishna, who was named Player of the Match, expressed his emotions after receiving his first-ever POTM award in the IPL. "Nothing much, I don't really have any words right now. It was the tenth over, and I was thinking I had not waited so long to bowl (in a T20 game), but it paid off (in the end). We were sitting and watching how the first innings went. Cutters into the wicket were doing well, and the plan was to make sure I used those lengths. I just figured that was working, so I did not want to test the speed gun (smiles). Wanted to keep things simple; every single ball was important," Krishna said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo. His disciplined bowling and ability to adapt to the pitch conditions proved vital for Gujarat, who bounced back strongly after a tough start to their campaign. Coming to the match, MI won the toss and opted to bowl first. GT openers Shubman Gill (38 in 27 balls, with four boundaries and a six) and Sai Sudarshan put the team to a fine start with a 78-run stand. Another half-century stand came between Sudarshan and Jos Buttler (39 in 24 balls, with five fours and a six). Sudarshan played a solid knock of 63 in 41 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes. From 179/4, GT suffered a mini-collapse towards the end as they were restricted to 196/8 in 20 overs. Skipper Hardik Pandya (2/29) was the pick of the bowlers for MI, while Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Satyanarayana Raju each took a wicket. In the run chase of 197 runs, MI lost Rohit Sharma (8) and Ryan Rickelton early. However, Tilak Varma (39 in 36 balls, with three fours and a six) and Suryakumar Yadav (48 in 28 balls, with a four and four sixes) tried fighting it out for MI with a 62-run stand. Following their dismissal, MI lost their way and were restricted to 160/6 in 20 overs. Prasidh Krishna (2/18) and Mohammed Siraj (2/34) were the top bowlers for GT. Kagiso Rabada and Sai Kishore also got a wicket each. (ANI)
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